You may be familiar with Peter Laws via his regular column reviewing horror films for the Fortean Times. Or perhaps his grisly thriller novels – Purged and Unleashed. What distinguishes Peter from most other horror critics and crime novelists is that he’s also an ordained Baptist priest – an unusual combination that’s earnt him the nickname the Sinister Minister.
His most recent work is a non-fiction book entitled The Frighteners. In it, Peter investigates why we – and he himself – are drawn to the gory and horrific. It’s a fascinating subject with some relevance to us here at Alchemy – in case you hadn’t noticed we like all things dark and spooky here too! So we despatched our unholiest resident horror fan, Gavin Baddeley, to find out what the Sinister Minister had discovered… Continue reading
People have such a terrible opinion about us. They think we are cold murderers, rotten on the inside, no more than decaying souls, wandering this cursed world until we turn into dust. We are incapable of emotions, of empathy, of love…
As spring starts to unfurl now is the perfect time to get out into your garden (before summer really hits and you risk exchanging that deathly pallor for a sun kissed shade of orange). And we all know goths secretly love being outdoors even the less witchy types will skulk around in mother nature’s bounty, just check out “Goths up trees” if you have any doubt! While I’m partial to the juxtaposition pretty pink and white flowers can make against beautiful black velvets – there are a number of ways you can bring a bit of darkness into your alfresco living space. The queen of goth gardening is undoubtedly Kat von D whose black garden is awash with… well, black. From black sunflowers to black heart vines, her Hollywood garden shrieks goth. But what of our slightly less clement climes? Dark plants were in vogue in Victorian and Edwardian times with plant breeders eager to pursue a rarity and bring out the black. Below is a list of some of my favourite black and dark purple plants. 
I didn’t know her. She just contacted me through social media stating she urgently needed my assistance. According to her, I was the only one who could help. She wanted me to inspect a body but warned me that the details would shock me. I told her, as an experienced Forensic doctor, nothing could surprise me any more. She insisted this was something unique. 
Through shadow gates and on to blasted glacial crags, Maveth the herald of death drives his caducorian mount to outstrip infernal winds and hasten tidings to regions of hell where Ragnarok still prevails. For high in a towering obsidian edifice, lost souls await an end to an eternity of purgatory. 
As storm clouds bode ill above Chalisbury, the fate of a sacred treasure rests within the talons of the sentinel of St Levantius. 
‘Love is eternal.’
In the western world the new year may seem to have been and gone an age ago but in the east it is only just arriving… 
When you feel like you’ve reached the pinnacle of your gothdom, there’s still an avenue to eke out those extra goth points – goth food and drink! Dark hues of substance to make sure you’re also black on the inside! 
It is the nature of man to light the darkness, and it is his folly to expand his influence and probe the dark places of the worlds above and below.